1. Technical Field
Aspects of this document relate generally to telecommunication systems and techniques for transmitting data across a telecommunication channel.
2. Background Art
Since the advent of electromagnetic (EM) communications, a recurring problem that continues to challenge the industry is a Radio Frequency (RF) transmission device that fails in a manner that results in improper carrier signal transmission, thereby resulting in emissions that the device is not authorized to transmit. These rogue or improperly configured transmitted carrier signals are each known as “interferers.” This problem is prevalent in the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Satellite industry where the quality of the electronics is lower than that of larger earth stations, but this disclosure is not limited to satellite technology. As more devices enter service and the number of transmission devices continues to increase, the number of failures of the devices is more frequent in occurrence.
The interfering carrier signal may be caused by failed equipment that results in the transmission equipment transmitting or sweeping the wrong spectral location or locations—in this event this carrier is known as a “rogue carrier.” Failure of the radio frequency (RF) transmission equipment in the satellite terminal results in, but is not limited to, transmitting on the wrong frequency, transmitting a continuous wave (CW) carrier, transmitting a sweeping carrier, transmitting at the wrong power, etc. In many cases, the failed electronic device causes an interruption to devices to which the terminal is authorized to transmit, but in most cases, the failure results in transmission in spectrum where the terminal is not authorized to transmit. In this scenario, an interruption results to users on other frequency spectrum.
A method is called for to first identify a failure of the RF transmit device and secondly, to insert an identification to assist a satellite operator, interference monitoring service, federal or state agency, or private or commercial operator, to rapidly identify the source of the interfering carrier using the methods described.